25 Sea Lore Lane, Shark Key Florida - Bank Owned Waterfront Home near Key West

Shark Key is a small island peninsula which extends off US 1 into Florida Bay on the Gulf of Mexico side of the Florida Keys. Shark Key is a gated community with 74 waterfront lots about half of which are actually built. There is a large swimming lagoon, tennis courts, and community center surrounded by lush tropical foliage, flowering trees, and magnificent specimen palms. Most of the homes on this island sanctuary are large villas compared to the small cigar maker cottages and conch homes located about seven miles down the road in Key West.

The listing Broker describes the newly listed Bank Owned waterfront home located at 25 Sea Lore Lane this way:

"Wonderful location, facing the Easterly breezes in this unique and upscale gated, waterfront community. Shark Key is a peninsula jotting out from US-Hi Way 1 into the Gulf of Mexico. Enjoy the gorgeous sunrises and romantic moon rises with star filled nights from your private deck & heated pool. Tropical, mature landscaping all around home provides privacy and pleasant views from every window. For your vehicles there is a brick paved driveway, 3 car garage, and plenty of additional off street parking. A spacious Clubhouse with kitchen, tables & chairs and wide wrap around, covered decks facing the waterfront is available to residents. Enjoy the covered picnic area by the Swimming Lagoon, it is a beautiful setting. The two tennis courts are adjacent to Clubhouse. Shark Key is located 11 miles from down town Key West, it's the best of two worlds, a private island bursting with tropical landscaping, lagoon, beautiful waterfront homes and a short drive to Key West." 

I had the opportunity last week to show this home to potential buyers. While it did not meet their needs, it may be of interest to someone reading this blog. The 3023 sq ft home is situated on a large 14,968 sq ft lot over looking the open waters of Florida Bay. The house has 4 bedrooms and three baths. The master bedroom is located on the first floor next to the living area and shares part of the deck that looks out to open water.

Front entry proceeds to the great room. Sliding doors open out to the covered deck.

Pool views from the great room with open water to the rear

Dining area located adjacent to the living area with kitchen in foreground

Master suite located behind the mirrored wall

The great room, kitchen-dining area, and the master suite are all located on the east side of the home where each area has great water viewing opportunities.  The deck traverses the entire back side of the home. About half the deck is covered while the remaining spaces provide areas for sunbathing or entertaining. 

There are three tiki huts on the grounds with two located near water's edge and one in the front off the gated private entry. The tiki huts add to the tropical allure of this home. I am confident this once grand home can be easily be restored to its former self. The interiors will need painted, the decks will need some sprucing up, and the landscaping will need some judicious pruning. But when the work is done, the inside and the outside will look just great.

This is a really big house by Key West standards.  It will provide a new owner with four good sized bedrooms to meet the needs of a real family with growing kids. The first floor guest room would make a great living space for an older parent living with the family. That bedroom is located above the two are garage and is set off by itself which provides additional privacy. The kitchen is really large and will provide abundant work space for food preparation and clean-up. The outdoor area will give adults and children alternate places to enjoy their time outside.

As the listing broker pointed out, this is a gated community of exclusive waterfront homes which share the usage of the private swimming lagoon, tennis courts, and clubhouse. There is a key pad operated gated entry. The beautiful private roadway is maintained by the home owner association. The monthly hoa fees are $400 and cover common area maintenance, security, and management.

CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet and listing photos of 25 Sea Lore Lane on Shark Key which is offered at just $999,000. Other active listings on Shark Key run from $1,775,000 to $6,450,000. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to schedule a private showing of this bank owned home.  I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. This truly is a buying opportunity.   

527 Margaret Street, Key West - Stunning New Renovation in Old Town

Just Listed, 527 Margaret Street, Key West. The listing agent describes this beautiful Old Town property this way: 

"Stunning and Stylish Renovation in this Historic Home, Ideally Located on 500 block of Margaret St, walking distance to so many attractions, Restaurants and Galleries. Remodeled in 2015, the home underwent a complete Foundation to Roof Renovation and received the Historic Florida Keys Preservation Award in 2016. Features include Soaring Exposed Beam Ceilings, White Oak Wood Floors, Top End Appliances, A wall of glass leading to pool and Deck. Beautifully finished bedrooms and baths, with 2 bedrooms and additional loft. Being Sold Turn Key!"

I have written a couple of earlier blogs about this property when it was a hodgepodge of additions and used as multi-family home. I wrote about it while under renovation in my Projects of Key West continuum.  Later I wrote about the house when it was completed. Now it is for sale. The original house was taken to the ground and totally rebuilt save enough boards to fit within a thin definition of a renovation. The end result is a beautiful home located in a great Old Town location near all the places primary and second home owners seek. It is located just four blocks from world famous Duval Street and only four blocks to the Historic Seaport. One of Key West's finest steak houses in located across the street and dozens of small joints and fine dining restaurants are within easy walking distance. While what you see from the street is picture perfect, it's the interior that will really grab your attention. As you look more closely, you'll appreciate the quality new construction and the cost saving benefits of owning a home like this.

When you look at the house from the street you would probably expect the interiors to be compact and tight because the house simply looks like a quaint one story home with a cute little front porch. But you would be wrong. Very wrong. Oh, it is just a one story house, but once you open the door and pass through the formal entry hall you'll see a wall of glass which soars to the vaulted ceiling immediately refuting any pre-conceptions about this home being small.

The first thing I saw was the canopy of the old banyan tree at the rear. The blue sky seemed to blend with the subtle and not-so-subtle blue tones interspersed throughout the house.  The wood ceiling and white washed wood floors add a natural color perspective to this living space. There is a guest bath located off the center hall adjacent to the adult beverage center with color co-ordinated booze. The laundry area is opposite. Dale Trice designed the interiors and created the media and display wall with storage below. Giant shells and white objets d'art fill that space and throughout the house. The setting is like something out of Coastal Living Magazine or Architectural Digest. Maybe it should be!

The master and guest bedroom (with loft) are located at the front of the house. Both have en-suite baths.The master suite is stunning-almost regal. The guest bedroom is quite understated by comparison. The loft space will be a favorite of the grand kids. I don't know if kids still play "fort" like I did when I was a child. This space would make a perfect fort, of that I am sure. 

CLICK HERE to view the Key West MLS datasheet and listing photos.  527 Margaret Street is offered turn key at $1,549,000. Please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642, to schedule a private showing. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

Beachfront Living in the Florida Keys - 15680 Old State 4A Road, Sugarloaf Key

This is your chance to fulfill a dream and live in your own private beachfront home in the Florida Keys. Just Listed by Preferred Properties Key West is 15680 Old State Road located on Sugarloaf Key. The listing Broker describes the property this way:

"Beachfront living in the Florida Keys! Stunning views of the sparkling ocean from walls of glass doors and windows. Set on appx. 5 acres with appx. 450 ft. of a sandy beach, this beach house is what island life is all about. Designed to take in the breathtaking views and the warm tropical breezes, this casually elegant home will make one feel immediately relaxed. The master en suite has walls of glass on two sides and seems to hang over the water. Several decks add space for outdoor entertaining and dining. The main house has three bedrooms, two baths and a dramatic vaulted ceiling in the living and dining room. Down a meandering covered walkway is the double garage, half bath and guest room. There's also an RV garage for extra parking and storage. All water sports are right outside the door. Plans to build 3 bungalows, a family pavilion, outbuildings and pool are available. This is paradise!"

 If you have never been to Sugarloaf Key before, CLICK HERE for a GOOGLE aerial view of the area. Use the toggle switch to move up and down Sugarfloaf Key.  Sugarloaf is located 13 miles to the east of Key West.  Drive down the paved road a couple of miles and turn right and proceed forward along a desolate stretch of ground where there are only a few and very expensive homes. Make the turn at the electronically gated entry and proceed forward to your own private paradise.

This home is designed and furnished with Florida Keys casual living in mind. The walls of glass in the living room allow the owner and guests to transition between the inside and outside a non-event. Our wonderful weather makes outdoor living such an important part of the way we lead our daily lives. And who wouldn't want to live here?

This 2331 sq ft home has three bedrooms and two and one-half baths situated on a 2220,000 sq ft (almost five acre) lot. The home has a garage and parking for four automobiles plus an RV garage.

 I found the black and white photo above that was taken in 1912 of a group of people having a picnic on Sugarloaf Key. Back then there were a couple of fishing camps and a few homes. Today there are several homes in the area just off US1 and only a few homes on the lower stretch of the road.
CLICK HERE to view the Key West mls datasheet and listing photos of this remarkable Florida Keys home. Then please call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642 to schedule a private showing. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.

Key West Home Sales - First Half 2016

Today's Key West Citizen ran a first page story that read "Home sales go down as prices go up". Watching home sale prices in Key West is like tending a garden: build or fix-up a house, tend it, watch it go up in value, sell it and reap a profit. Repeat next year.

The article reported first half year sales of 191 homes which is down from 231 in 2015. The problem with computer generated reports is that the reporting area includes Stock Island up to Big Coppitt. Most of my buyers are looking for homes in Key West. So I took the time to see what really happened during the first half of 2016.I weeded out all properties not located on the Island of Key West where there were a total of 111 single family home sales. The least expensive home sold for $315,000; the median home sold at $734,000; and the most expensive home sold for a whopping $5,500,000. The average price per sq ft was $579.94. And the sales price to list price was 94.88%.

There were 167 single family homes sale during the first half of 2015. That is 56 more than this year. The least expensive home sold for $222,500 (as compared to $315,000 in 2016); the medial home sold for $659,000 compared to $734,000 in 2016); and the most expensive home was 620 Eaton Street that sold for $4,495,000 (compared to 101 Admirals Lane which sold for $5,500,000). During the first half of 2015 the average priced home sold for $526.89 per sq ft and compared to $579.94 in 2016. And the sales to list price in 2015 was 95.51 as compared to 94.88% in 2016.

There are currently 59 single family homes under contract on the Island of Key West. The least expensive home is offered at $349,000; the median is priced at $765,000; and the most expensive home is $4,250,000. Twenty of the 59 houses are priced at $1,000,000 or higher and 8 of those are priced at $2,000,000 and higher. That's a lot of money for a little town out in the middle of the ocean. Here's the kicker - 40 of the 59 houses currently under contract went under contract in the last month. And several others went under contract in the waning days of April. This follows the traditional pattern of houses sitting on the market for a few months. Buyers watch and wait for prices to drop (which they typically do) and then buyers swoop down and buy as sellers capitulate. 

Thirty single family homes sold in the first half of this year priced over $1,000,000 at an average price per sq ft of $745.77.  The median home in this price range sold at $1,387,500.  That's a lot of money for people who have been planning to move here or to retire here. Over the ten years I have been writing my blog I have discussed the three segments of our market which are the lower priced homes, the mid-range homes, and the higher priced homes. That's a given in any market, but here the price disparity between these segments seems incredibly daunting. I work with a lot of buyers who are trying to purchase a property now before the prices continue escalate because that is the premise most buyers operate under. I agree with that premise. I do not think we are in a bubble. I think our market is healthy. I think our market is priced very high but not as high as it was a few months ago. It has adjusted downward.  I continue to think some sellers are exceedingly greedy. I think a lot of buyers are fooling themselves that we are going to have a housing crash. That is not going to happen. The people who buy second homes here are successful people. The lax credit requirements that helped cause the 2008 crash have been curtailed.  While money is relatively cheap, credit requirements and down payments keep the market from over-boiling. And in Key West most of our million dollar plus sales are cash.

If you are looking to buy a home in Key West please consider contacting me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. Let me help you find your place in Paradise.